SBIR Phase I: Virtual Reality Platform to advance K-16 Math & Physics proficiency

SBIR 第一阶段：虚拟现实平台推进 K-16 数学

• 批准号: 2014681
• 负责人: Anurupa Ganguly
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: PRISMS OF REALITY INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2021-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2014681&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Virtual; Reality; Platform

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will result from targeting pain points in the K-16 math and physical science curriculum to improve participation and sustained achievement in these subjects. Despite investments in education technology, curriculum overhaul, and teacher development, STEM education in the US continues to struggle to improve student proficiency, democratize access, and meet global changes in workforce demand. Current methodologies continue to promote 2D tools to teach concepts that are inherently 3D in nature, which have led to gaps in spatial reasoning and the ability to conceptualize abstractions - critical skills for success in STEM. The company seeks to develop an immersive virtual reality (VR) platform that closes these gaps in STEM proficiency, particularly for non-selective and historically underserved student populations. The aim is to shape the next generation of STEM practitioners by providing students the opportunity to creatively solve high impact real world problems in state-of-the-art interactive virtual learning environments. Ultimately, it is hoped the proposed platform will become the standard in advanced STEM learning solutions, utilizing multiple platforms (VR, AR, Mobile) and data analytics to ensure students of all backgrounds are equipped to succeed in STEM fields. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address a key question for VR in education today - how can VR be used for the purpose of cognitive advancement in competencies and skills that serve as gate-keepers to success in postsecondary STEM? There is evidence that learning via VR increases activity, brain arousal, and engagement, but more lasting impacts on conceptual understanding and transfer have yet to be realized. The primary objective of this project is to define how core VR functionalities and multimodal interactions can be designed and implemented within a rich, problem-driven pedagogical framework to enable 3D sense making of abstract topics. The company will conduct rigorous research and iterative user testing to identify the most effective VR modalities and kinesthetic interactions that support enduring content mastery and cognitive flexibility. In addition, data analytics will be developed to enhance interactivity, provide crucial real-time formative assessment of student progress, and predictive learning insights to teachers and parents. The technology will also enable networked interactions on the platform to promote collaborative learning. In doing so, the project will not only transform the STEM learning experience, but also provide a model of how progressive pedagogical practices can be actualized through VR to drive student learning outcomes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将针对 K-16 数学和物理科学课程中的痛点，以提高这些科目的参与度和持续成就。尽管在教育技术、课程改革和教师发展方面进行了投资，但美国的 STEM 教育仍然难以提高学生的水平、实现教育的民主化并满足全球劳动力需求的变化。当前的方法继续推广 2D 工具来教授本质上是 3D 的概念，这导致了空间推理和抽象概念化能力方面的差距，而抽象能力是 STEM 成功的关键技能。该公司致力于开发一个沉浸式虚拟现实 (VR) 平台，以缩小 STEM 熟练程度的差距，特别是对于非选择性和历史上服务不足的学生群体。其目的是通过为学生提供在最先进的交互式虚拟学习环境中创造性地解决高影响力的现实世界问题的机会来塑造下一代 STEM 从业者。最终，我们希望所提出的平台将成为先进 STEM 学习解决方案的标准，利用多个平台（VR、AR、移动）和数据分析来确保各种背景的学生都有能力在 STEM 领域取得成功。这个小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目将解决当今教育中 VR 的一个关键问题 - 如何利用 VR 来提高能力和技能的认知进步，从而成为中学后 STEM 成功的把关人？有证据表明，通过 VR 学习可以增加活动、大脑唤醒和参与度，但对概念理解和迁移的更持久影响尚未实现。该项目的主要目标是定义如何在丰富的、问题驱动的教学框架内设计和实现核心 VR 功能和多模式交互，以实现抽象主题的 3D 意义构建。 该公司将进行严格的研究和迭代用户测试，以确定最有效的 VR 模式和动觉交互，以支持持久的内容掌握和认知灵活性。此外，还将开发数据分析以增强交互性，为学生进步提供重要的实时形成性评估，并为教师和家长提供预测性学习见解。该技术还将实现平台上的网络交互，以促进协作学习。 在此过程中，该项目不仅将改变 STEM 学习体验，还将提供一个如何通过 VR 实现渐进式教学实践以推动学生学习成果的模型。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。